Episode 99
A dark, crackling gate forms near Taraka and Yuta, and Taraka prepares to leave. She tells Yuta that the future she described won't happen if Yuta leaves Leez after he draws the Sword of Return; however, it seems that he will be unable to leave her side. She warns him that the longer he stays with her, the more it will hurt. She asks once again if he still chooses to return to her. Ran carries the unconscious Leez as he follows Asha through the crumbling tunnels. He blames Asha for not telling him the truth about Yuta sooner. Asha points out that Yuta barely knew him, and the boy had no reason to trust him with this information. Ran asks if they have a way to return to Willarv, and Asha points out that a passage has already appeared. Ran finds her predictions amazing and almost suspicious. Asha has a dark look on her face as she hears that, then tells him to prepare his spell. The group finally escapes the channel. Ran asks if it collapsed because of the suras fighting. Asha tells him that the water channel is a god-level item made by the primeval god Brahma, so it can only be destroyed if a force equivalent to Brahma's power acts upon it. She then claims she can't guess the true reason it collapsed. Ran then asks Asha why the name of the clan of Chaos can't be used. Asha asks him if he knows about the Power of the Name, then explains that there are names holding special kinds of power. These were giving to the first living creatures of the universe, which were then divided into nastikas, Those who are strong, but live only once, and astikas, Those who are weaker, but can resurrect themselves an infinite number of times. The astikas later came to be known as natural gods or created gods. The ones responsible for naming them was the primeval god Visnu. He already had a name that was immortal regardless of the existence of the universe, so he had no interest in keeping the other names. So, once the universe was created, the most powerful names belonged to the newly-created beings. Out of the four primeval gods, Brahma and Shiva also held no desire for the names and their power, but Kali was different. Whatever the reason, she took possession of the leftover names of nastikas that were not given out because they had flaws or elements of danger. Ran realizes that Asha is talking about the god who made the Sword of Return, who had a bad reputation. He concludes that the name of the Chaos clan was among those taken by Kali, and that Kali is both a primeval god and a nastika. He finds the information very interesting and wonders why he didn't learn this at school. Asha informs him that the knowledge is considered heresy. Ran then starts complaining and proclaims he'll forget everything. Asha tells him that all information is beneficial, and one just has to refrain from talking about it. However, she is confident that she'll be released even if she's arrested. Finally, Ran asks about Yuta's return. Asha informs him that Yuta doesn't benefit from traveling with them, and he has to make a decision. Yuta is shown looking at the gate. Leez wakes up in a village near the exit to the channel, not far from Kalibloom. Ran is surprised by how fast she woke up. Realizing that Yuta isn't there, Leez rushes to find Asha. Outside, she realizes that the water channel is closed. Others believe that the Gandharva suras within have become violent. She sadly thinks back to all her moments with Yuta. Curry mushrooms start appearing everywhere, and people nearby rush to gather them. However, all Leez notices is Yuta, standing atop the cliff. 1-99 Taraka.png|wistful 1-99 escape.png|assisted 1-99 watery eyes.png|misty-eyed 1-99 Yuta (detail).png|sinister Currygom's comment The genre of this webtoon is Fantasy Romance. Really. Please believe me. Afterword There are many nastikas and gods, but I only drew the first nastika kings and the 5th-zen gods. It looks like they are about to have a 7 v. 7 fight, but in reality one nastika king would be more than enough to sweep all seven gods away... Still, in the left group, two are dead (Ananta and Yaksha), one is in a coma (Garuda), one is almost out of his mind (Gandharva), while the right side stays strong. Maybe being able to resurrect is better. Taraka's hairstyle is revealed yet again. Some thought there were twin tails, but there aren't. Ran looks like a cute boy here! Like Asha said, their passage through the water channel is finally over. It was a nightmare for me. Similar-looking scenery that required so much work!!! But drawing buildings makes me want to go back... lol Well, only one episode left, so I gotta give it my best. Notes * The noise beyond Taraka's gate is similar to when Kasak used the Crescent Gate. Kasak later reveals that the Crescent Gate leads to a void filled with Chaos suras. This is where Taraka has gone. * Much later on, Yuta will recall Taraka's words warning him of his upcoming suffering. * Ran is fine even though rocks are falling on him. On the other hand, no rocks are falling on Asha. Perhaps she is calculating the trajectory of the rocks, and smartly avoiding them; this is only half a joke. * Since the water channel was created by a primeval god, it can only be undone with an equivalent force. Some suspect that either Asha's hoti visnu or Yuta was responsible. * Asha casually mentions that if she is arrested, she can easily get free. She also said something similar to the half hunters when she first met Yuta, that she would easily be cleared of involuntary manslaughter by magical accident. We learn later on that this has, in fact, happened before Asha's disappearance. * This episode confirms that nastikas are stronger than gods. This could have been guessed from the fact that under normal circumstances, both Gandharva and Sagara are stronger than Agni (and from the fact that not all nastikas are extinct yet, despite the fact that gods try hard to kill them). * The silhouettes of 5th-zen natural gods and nastika kings are positioned according to opposing elements, with the exception of Vayu and Kinnara, both Wind (references point to previous mentions for lesser-shown characters): ** Yaksha (Light) vs Chandra (Darkness) ** Ananta (Earth) vs Indra (Sky) ** Asura (Darkness) vs Surya (Light) ** Vritra (Fire) vs Varuna (Water) ** Gandharva (Water) vs Agni (Fire) ** Garuda (Sky) vs Kubera (Earth) ** Kinnara is next to Vritra, and Vayu is in a corner. ** Yama is probably not shown because he is a created god. We also see several silhouettes of the gods in Episode 38. ** Currygom noted (in the blog entry above) that the shown match-up is impossible. Also, Yaksha and Ananta are already dead. Shuri is now king of the Yaksha clan. ** We also see Kinnara holding Vritra. In the finite, we learn that Vritra and Kinnara used to be lovers near the beginning of the universe, but he dumped her after the dragons lost their emotions as part of a deal to avoid extinction. * Here, we see Visnu just when Shuri is born. * We finally confirm the identities of the four primeval gods; references point to previous mentions: ** Visnu ** Shiva ** Brahma ** Kali * When Leez goes outside, a person complains about having to go through the polar region to reach Atera. This is the original route through Rindhallow that Asha was planning to use. * The notice is signed by Teo Rakan, the President of the Kalibloom Fighters Guild. We first saw her silhouette when Kubera told Leez about Kalibloom. References